Sense of relief in neighborhood terrorized by alleged rapist

A Central Peoria woman bought a dog and beefed up the locks on her windows after a man broke into her neighbor’s house two years ago.

The terror she felt as the crime, and a number of others like it, went unsolved for months was alleviated this week when she learned James "Eddie" Fuller was behind bars, possibly for the rest of his life.

Fuller, 43, of Peoria was indicted this week for three separate sexual assaults that he allegedly committed during the first half of 2006. For each incident, he faces one count of home invasion and two counts of criminal sexual assault.

The unemployed felon, already convicted of armed robbery and rape, started his sexual assault spree on March 11 by entering a home in the 100 block of East War Memorial Drive and raping the 52-year-old widow inside. He attacked the same woman again May 5, police said.

Between those attacks, on April 30, he allegedly raped a woman in Peoria Heights, then returned to Peoria on June 3 where he is supposed to have assaulted a woman in the 4400 block of North Wyss Lane. In the later attack, the victim fought back and police were able to retrieve DNA evidence from under her fingernails.

It was several months before Fuller attacked another woman, it appears. On Sept. 10, 2006, he allegedly sneaked into a West Peoria woman’s Callender Avenue apartment and attempted to sexually assault her. It would be his last such attack.

Peoria County sheriff’s deputies arrested him shortly after the assault as he tried to outrun them in surrounding neighborhoods. In his vehicle, found parked nearby, they found a jar of Vaseline on the dashboard.

The victim, 64, who uses a wheelchair, was sleeping in her bedroom when she felt someone pulling her underwear down, police reports stated.

"I could feel someone standing behind me," the victim told police. "I rolled over and yelled at him (to) ‘Get out of here!’"

She positively identified the man as Fuller.

"We have to give credit to the victim who fought back during this incident and had the presence of mind to immediately notify police," Peoria County Sheriff’s Capt. David Briggs said.

Without the victim’s quick response and bravery, police may not have caught Fuller and the sexual assaults could have continued.

"If he hadn’t been caught, I doubt he would have stopped on his own accord," Peoria Police Chief Steven Settingsgaard said. "This is one of those (cases) that rocks the community. It was an exceptionally frightening case. He was a scary character."

The string of attacks put the community on alert that summer and forced residents, especially middle-aged women living alone, to lock their doors and windows. Police warned women living in neighborhoods bordered by Northmoor and Prospect roads, University Street and Forrest Hill Avenue to be diligent and watch for suspicious people.

In each case the intruder slipped into a woman’s home during the night either by unlocked windows or doors, then raped or assaulted her. Because each attack was similar, police knew they were looking for one man.

After Fuller’s arrest, deputies suspected he was the man Peoria and Peoria Heights police were looking for in their cases.

"He was the focus of our attention after his arrest because the method of operation was very similar to the city cases," Briggs said. "They had the suspect’s DNA and we had the suspect."

During the county’s investigation, they recovered one of Fuller’s cigarette butts and had the DNA analyzed. When the test results came back, DNA samples found at the scene of the three Peoria cases matched Fuller’s.

County detectives, who had been working with Peoria police, shared the results of the DNA tests and it wasn’t long before Peoria had enough evidence to take to the grand jury.

"Hats off to the county for doing good police work," Settingsgaard said. "I’m confident that ended our rape cases. I hope they put him away for a long, long time."

Fuller has been in police custody since his arrest in September 2006.

Because of a 1981 rape conviction from Kansas, Fuller faces up to 60 years in prison rather than the normal 30 years a Class X felony carries.

Additionally, because he had two prior armed robbery convictions in 1989 out of Peoria County for which he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, it is possible jurors could find him a habitual criminal. That would mean Fuller would spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted in that manner.

Fuller is set for trial in late April for the West Peoria case, but it will likely be postponed because of the new charges against him. He is representing himself in the West Peoria case.

The new cases are scheduled for trial in June. The status of the Peoria Heights case was unavailable Friday.

Leslie Fark can be reached at (309) 696-3188 or lfark@pjstar.com. Andy Kravetz contributed to this story.